A thick blanket of fog affected normal life at many places in the northern region Wednesday, even as the the current spell of cold wave relented a bit in Haryana, but most Punjab towns continued to face its onslaught with Amritsar once again turning out to be the coldest zone at 0.8 degrees celsius.

It was not just the bone chilling low at Amritsar, which was recorded four degrees below the normal range that made life miserable for its residents, but fog also reduced visibility in the town and its surrounding areas considerably, the Meteorological Department said in Chandigarh.

The low at Chandigarh increased by three degrees since Tuesday at 7.6 degrees celcius, which was a degree above the normal range.

Delhi and most Haryana towns also witnessed slight increase in the minimum temperatures. While the low in Delhi was recorded at 5.7 degrees celsius, the minimum at Ambala settled at 6 degress celsius. Hisar had a low of 7.2 degrees celsius and the low at Karnal was 6 degrees celsius.

Srinagar residents in Kashmir Valley continued to face piercing cold and the minimum there was recorded at 3.9 degrees celsius, below the freezing point.

A report from Sonepat in Haryana said that dense fog prevailed in the area disrupting road and rail traffic for a few hours. Several long distance and suburban trains passed through Sonepat railway station a few hours behind schedule.

The report said that eight passengers suffered injuries in different road accidents, which occurred in the district Wednesday on account of poor visibility due to the thick blanket of fog.

The cold wave has so far claimed eight lives -- six in Punjab and two in Haryana -- in the region.